Nine Lives of Minerva
by HopeAndFaithAndCharity
Summary: Minerva can still remember the first time she changed into her cat form… and the first and only time she fell in love.


The first time I legally changed into my cat form, I knew it was the start of _something_. I mean, it is not every day that a young witch like me learns to become an Animagus. It is the hardest kind of magic there is. Then, however, I didn't know what I had started… only that it had to do with him. That is it, I am sure.

Steven helped me a lot, as well. Steven McGonagall, Hogwarts's resident troublemaker and all-around no good guy.

My friends said he was a bad influence. We were both Gryffindors, but he was so rugged and such a troublemaker that it made absolutely no sense for me, the bookworm of our year, to become friends with him. But yet I did. Against all I had been before, I did.

It started one day in the library. Madam Saney, the librarian then, was not paying us any attention, while trying to replace books back on their shelves. I sat down to read more about Animagus, and I felt a prescence beside me.

"Are you going to insist on bothering me again?" I sigh. "I really have not got the time for this right now, Steven."

"No," he says. "Are you going to try to be an Animagus?"

"Why do you care, Steven," I say, shutting my book. "You have never taken any interest in me before. Why start now?"

"I-I have always kind of been interested in Animagus and I was thinking about becoming one," he stamers nervously. "What do you say, Minerva?"

"Sure," is my answer. "Why not?"

Thus began our friendship, and our studies to become Animagus. We would meet in the library or one of the courtyards to study. We really helped each other.

Finally, when I was seventeen, I could fully change. I was a golden tabby cat, just like my hair, with marks around my eyes that represented my glasses. However, I did not need them when I was a cat, because a cat's vision is so much better than humans.

Steven changed into a squirrel. He was rather cute, a bit darker than the average squirrel, but just as mischevious and conniving.

I went to the Ministry to register. They led me to the Department of Animagi and Registration.

"Hello, miss," the examiner said, entering. "Please fill out this form."

I did as quickly as I could. I was ready to be a legal Animagus. Steven was coming tomorrow.

"Very good, Miss…" she consults the form. "Harris. Please, step this way."

The examiner led me through to a larger room.

"Would you please transform for me," she asks. "Just a precaution, you know. For your safety."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the golden cat I knew I could turn into.

The next moment, I was shrinking down, growing fur. I was a cat now.

"Very good, Miss Harris," The examiner. "You know, that is the fastest I have ever seen someone transform."

I felt a sense of pride in my accomplishment. I was not sure I would be able to pass, but I did.

I walked out of the Ministry with a grin on my face. To my surprise, Steven was waiting for me down the street.

"So?" he says.

"So, what?" I ask, still grinning.

"So, did you pass?" he says. "I thought you were supposed to be smart, Minerva."

"I passed," I confirmed.

"That is great!" he says. "Hey, do you want to come over for dinner later?"

"Sure," I say. "But why?"

"Oh, my parents wanted to meet you, because they heard you were going to become an Animagus as well."

So, the next evening, I found myself at Steven's house at the dinner table. They made traditional Scottish foods, like haggis, but also potatoes, ham, and beans.

"This is very good," I say. I have steered clear of the haggis, but have eaten some of everything.

"Do you want to take a walk before you leave?" Steven asks.

We walk around his small neighborhood, taking a stop near a small lake.

"This is my favorite spot to come and think," he tells me.

"And what would Steven McGonagall need to think about?" I tease.

"Life," he says quietly. "What I am going to do with it."

"I want to be a teacher," I say. "Teach at Hogwarts, maybe Transfiguration. How about you?"

"I dunno," he says. "Maybe find a girl, settle down. Start an apothecary. I have always been a dab hand at potion-brewing, you know."

We sit in silence.

"I think I have found the girl," he continues. My head snaps up. Surprisingly, I am disappointed. I mean, it's not like we were dating or anything, we were just best friends… or were we more, and I just had not seen it?

"Really?" I ask quietly.

"Yep," he confirms. "She's smart, pretty, talented."

He crosses over to me and kneels down, taking something out of his pocket. "Minerva Harris, it is you. That is the only reason I wanted to learn to be an Animagus, to spend more time with you. I love you, Minerva." He takes a breath. I think I do as well. I never expected this. "Will you marry me?"

I do not hesitate. "Yes, Steven. Yes, I will marry you."

Over the next two months, Steven's mother, my mother, and I start planning my wedding. Everything has to be just right. My mother wanted to invite hundreds of people, but Mrs. McGonagall and I managed to convince her that the area we were using was too small to allow more than fifty or so people, not including the wedding party.

My maid-of honor was my best friend Anna. We had been friends since first year at Hogwarts, and she also helped plan my wedding as well. She was the one who practically single-handedly figured out how to arrange the flowers in an attractive way.

On the day of the wedding, I was a bundle of nerves. I had heard that every bride was nervous just before the ceremony, but I did not believe it until it was my turn in a white dress.

"Ready, Min?" my father asks, walking next to me.

I nod. I always knew that cats had nine lives, and this? This was the start of my second one.

Word Count: 1,055 words.


End file.
